Vincent Kompany desperate for Man City to perform at their best in Champions League

The big-spenders have been on cruise control in the Premier League, brushing aside opponents with ease and speed to reach the top of the table.

Pellegrini's outfit are now red hot favourites to win back the title from Chelsea and renew their domestic dominance.

But billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour will not be satisfied with home comforts and continues to crave the ultimate prize in club football.

Winning the Champions League is what he wants and demands after spending more than £1billion of his personal fortune on turning the club into a major force.

But even Sheikh Mansour's wealth cannot guarantee him the jewel in the European crown because this privilege has to be earned.

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MONEY MEN: Sterling (left) and De Bruyne both became club record signings this summer

City are desperate to be compared with the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, but so far the English giants have been cut down to size on the European stage.

They have still to make it past the last 16 stage and have been starved of success at the top table of the continent's elite.

The pressure on them to improve this poor record is building within the corridoors of power at the Etihad.

Pellegrini's men must hit the ground running considering last season's runners-up Juventus come to town to kick-off proceedings in Group D.

More fortunes have been spent on making Pellegrini's squad even stronger this summer, with the signings of Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Nicolas Otamendi and Fabian Delph adding genuine quality to an already star-studded squad.

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UP FOR IT: Kompany is focused on Europe

Now we are about to discover if the richest club in the world are better equipped to make a genuine fist of winning their first Champions League and captain Vincent Kompany admits more failure is not an option.

Kompany said: "We have been looking forward to the start of the competition since the disappointing game in Barcelona (last season).

"I don't think there is a day without pressure at this club. Every game has got massive pressure. You never know which game is going to be the hardest but this is a game everyone is going to be up for.

"We have not handled most of our games in the Champions League well. It is quite simple. You can talk about balances, but I think performances were down.

"Whatever happened last season needs to be used as a lesson. We have a good team and we should always believe in ourselves.

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PRESSURE ON: Pellegrini needs to improve in Europe

"That is a basic of what this squad needs to do, especially in the Champions League.

"It is about finding the confidence we have in the Premier League and bringing it into the Champions League.

"If we are not confident for this after what we have done so far, then we will never be confident.

"The same goes for what we have experienced. We are really determined and hungry in the Premier League after what happened last season.

"The same goes for the Champions League. We are disappointed and frustrated from many seasons before. We need to take that anger or that desire or that energy into this game. It is so important."

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READY TO GO: City players in training ahead of the Juve clash

City have been knocked out by a wonderful Barca side in the past two seasons, with Lionel Messi's nutmeg on James Milner in the Nou Camp last time out becoming a symbol of the gulf in class that still exists between the best and the rest.

If City want to land the ultimate prize they must find a way to take on and overcome the true giants of the game, but Kompany admits it is a challenge that cannot be completed overnight.

He added: "For the last five years since we have been in the Champions League it has been Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich - and that is it.

"They were the three strongest teams by miles and I think every other team has been playing catch up. But If I look at where we have come from and where we have got, we are doing OK for ourselves.

"Now it is all about the future. Facilities like we have here and the way we work with the academy and improve the squad every year, this is how we can close the gap.

"Will it happen this year? Hopefully. Even if we manage to beat them, I think they are still the three strongest teams.

For us to close the gap, or any other team, Juventus is the same, it will take time and hard work over the years."